Wheelies: The Little Landie Edition

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The 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport.CreditCreditJaguar Land Rover

By Benjamin Preston

Sept. 3, 2014

A roundup of motoring news from the web:

■ Jaguar Land Rover on Monday announced pricing for its 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport sport utility vehicle. It will start at $38,920, including a $925 destination charge. The automaker says the small S.U.V., which is scheduled to arrive at dealerships in the United States early next year, will be equipped with a turbocharged 240-horsepower 2-liter 4-cylinder engine, a 9-speed automatic transmission and 4-wheel drive. (Edmunds)

■ BMW said this week that it was recalling 27 vehicles, including some 2014 Mini Cooper hardtops and one BMW i3, because an air-bag inflator supplied by Takata could injure passengers during deployment. Millions of vehicles from many manufacturers have been recalled for defective Takata inflators. (BMW of North America)

■ Rupert Stadler, chief executive of Audi, said this week that despite a weaker market in Russia, the automaker can sell more than 1.7 million vehicles around the world this year because of stronger sales in the United States and China. Audi sold 1.6 million vehicles last year, compared with BMW’s 1.7 million and Mercedes-Benz’s 1.5 million. Sales in Russia had dropped as the ruble weakened and the crisis in Ukraine expanded. (Automotive News, subscription required)

■ The Georgia Automobile Dealers Association filed a complaint with the state revenue department last week claiming that Tesla Motors violated an agreement with the state that stipulated the automaker would sell fewer than 150 vehicles there annually via direct sales. Tesla denied the accusation, saying the time period for measuring sales limits was for the calendar year, not the October-to-June period cited by the association. (Bloomberg)

■ Infiniti recently released a heavily shadowed teaser image of its Q80 Inspiration concept, which is scheduled to be revealed at the Paris auto show in the fall. The concept is long, low and sleek, but the company is withholding further details until the four-door fastback’s official debut. (Autoblog)

■ The McLaren Formula One team is taking the final steps of a campaign to hire either Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso to lead its team. Vettel, last year’s season champion, is under contract with Red Bull until the end of next year, and Alonso is committed to Ferrari until 2016. (Autosport)

■ In other Formula One news, the Gene Haas Formula One team struck a deal with Ferrari this week in which the Italian company would supply engines for the American team beginning in 2016. For its part, the Haas team has expressed a strong interest in expanding its relationship into a more extensive technical partnership, which would help the team meet Formula One’s lengthy set of rules. (Autosport)

■ Warner Brothers says it has plans to revive “CHiPs,” a television show about California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers that ran from 1977-83, as a feature-length film. The studio says Dax Shepard will write and direct the film, as well as play Officer Jon Baker. Michael Peña is to play Officer Frank Poncherello, a role originally played by Erik Estrada. (Deadline Hollywood)